They arose and singly performed the sweeps, forehand and backhand that would dismember anyone who got in their way. The class knelt in meditation before beginning the swordplay. “He also lectures in Oriental philosophy in colleges all over the country.” “Master Otani is a descendant of 20 generations of samurai in Osaka,” he whispered.
IAIDO CHICAGO DRIVER
Driver permission to remain on the sidelines to explain what was going on. He called the class to order, but gave Mr. “That is because of its samurai association,” said Harvey Konigsberg, an artist who specializes in scenes of Japanese chivalry and is the highest‐ranking member of the class.Īfter bowing to the visitor, Mr. Even more bowing is done in iaido classes than in those of the other martial arts, it seems.
IAIDO CHICAGO WINDOWS
He bowed to the windows and mirrors, then bowed to his students. The teacher, or sensei, Yoshiteru Otani, a stocky, graying man of 48, entered the room.
“You must bow to the sword,” he said gravely. As the visitor reached for it, however, Mr. “It's the greatest thing in the world for improving your concentration,” he said, withdrawing his katana from its sheath and offering it for inspection. He is an actor and has appeared in “Over Here” and “Grease.” He is also a regular on “Edge of Night,” the television soap opera, in which he plays Kevin Jamison, a newspaper reporter. Driver, a muscular young fellow who hails from Chicago, holds a third‐degree black belt, which is the second‐highest ranking in the class. “It was by means of iaido that the samurai conquered their fear of dying.” “Historically, iaido is much closer to Zen than the other martial arts,” John Driver, a member of the class, told a visitor. The building now houses the Center for the Arts of the Lincoln Square Community Council. What the teacher and his students describe as the only classes in iaido in the United States are being held two nights a week in a top‐floor room in the old 20th Precinct police station on 68th Street near Amsterdam Avenue.
It is the art of fighting with the katana, the two‐handed Japanese sword, the razor‐sharp snickersnee waved by Banzai‐shouting officers as they charged American positions during World War II. The latest discovery, made one night last week, is iaido, pronounced, approximately, ee‐EYE‐dough. Every year or so a newly discovered Oriental martial art-kung fu and taekwando, for example-gives Americans a chance to get into kimonos, straw sandals and white‐canvas suits to earn green, brown, purple and black belts, to speak learnedly of exotic philosophies and to daydream of disarming vicious muggers.
0 kommentar(er)
